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Fake News

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This bag focuses on what fake news is, why and how it's a problem, and the ways in which it can be contained.

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Fake news is meant to mislead its readers, either for political reasons or for profit. It has been around since ancient and medieval times, but it has become more widespread now due to social media. Fake news can have a significant impact, so people/companies have begun to regulate or control it.
A study done by Northwestern University presented that people spend more time with real news than fake news on the Internet, however through social media people are more likely to be directed to fake news than real news. This can be attributed to the Theory of Technological Progress. Our communications technology has advanced immensely in the past 10 years. Even though fake news existed before the 21st century, it spreads much faster and wider now due to our new technology. Therefore it is able to have a much bigger impact on society.

Conservatives are more likely to believe fake news because it often confirms their biases and draws on their sensitivity to risk and danger within the world. Also, liberals tend to be more motivated when it comes to processing info critically.
The study that this article is based on draws on the idea of the Extended Parallel Process Model. The model says that messages use fear to persuade people. Because conservatives are more reactive to threats than liberals, fake news targeted them. The news would create statements that would threaten their traditions. Fear of losing their traditions pushed people to be in a defensive mood. This meant that they cared less about checking the validity, a maladaptive change, and in turn they would just argue even stronger for their opinion.

A study done by Stanford's Graduate School of Education shows that high school and college students don't verify the credibility of the information they take in, nor do they reliably detect bias.
The concept of "gatekeeping" refers to news that has been selected due to the limited amount of time and space. Events must meet certain criteria that ultimately determines whether it is important enough to be talked about on a public platform. I believe that this idea, that the news is a gatekeeper, is one of the main reasons why students don't distinguish between what's real or fake. They believe that the news is doing its job of keeping out the fake news, which then encourages them to believe everything they read and not verify its validity.

Fake news stories have a small immediate impact, but in the long-term it is wrongly shaping how people understand the world.
People like to hear news that confirms their biases. When fake news comes around, people may believe it because it fits their preconceptions and therefore sounds plausible. This relates to the idea of resonance. Writers of fake news want to make stories that will resonate with some people very strongly. They draw on people's emotions to get them to overlook the absurd factors of the story. The reason why fake news is such a problem is because consumers are beginning to only read and believe stories that resonate with them. So even if the news isn't real, that won't be noticed because it conforms to what a person believes.

This chart simply explains why fake news became so prominent. The use of social media, mistrust in mainstream media and institutions, and low entry barriers for creating content have all contributed to the propagation of fake news.
Localism refers to decentralized control of institutions. That used to be the principle that America prided itself on. But within the past few decades, there has been a movement toward efficiency or consolidation of media. Fewer and fewer people control more and more resources. This consolidation has lead to the growing mistrust in mainstream media that the chart refers to. Lack of diversity of voices in mainstream media has driven people towards alternative sources of news. However, it's difficult to determine the validity of alternative news sources, but since it's the only thing available other than mainstream news people still take it in.

Multiple studies show that people will stick with their opinion even if it has been debunked by actual facts, if anything their opinions become stronger. Humans also believe they know more than they actually do, which is perpetuated by other people. When it comes to politics, that way of thinking becomes dangerous because people will favor policies they don't understand.
The Communication Mediated Model states that news and political discussion are causally related. This means that news is the basis of conversation/discussion. When people read fake news they will concur with others, and when other people agree with those ideas it will encourage them to believe in the fake news. Because news triggers political discussion, then what is published needs to be accurate because once people read something and discuss with others, their opinions can become cemented.

This Ted-Ed post is in response to the study done by Stanford revealing that students aren't able to distinguish fake news from real news. It says we should verify the facts and the person publishing the story and also take everything with a grain of salt when engaging with media content.
These tips are a good reminder that we can't take what we see at face value. This idea is related to the different exposure states that audience members can be in. There are 4 different states: automaticity, attentional, transported and self-reflexive. Students from the study seemed to be in a state of automaticity, they received the message but weren't aware of it. The article is hinting that we need to be in a self-reflexive state where we are hyperaware of the message. We have to analyze it instead of passively accepting it.

It's difficult to convince people with facts after they've been told a lie, so a more effective way to combat fake news would be to warn people that what they're reading may be false.
This article shows that there needs to be some intervention by some source in order to somewhat control the spreading of fake news. This relates to the ICT4D cube. The cube has three sections: technology, the opportunities to apply the technology to, and the feedback, which could be positive or negative. Because this is article wants to curb fake news with certain strategies, it would be considered negative feedback. Regulating fake news would control its effects on society, and the magnitude of its effects.

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